1. Field of the Disclosure
The field of the disclosure relates to a sensor included in a component for sensing information relating to or surrounding the component location. The component can be attached to an article of manufacture and configured to be mated with a mating component. The component may include radio-frequency (RF) communication capability for communicating information, including the sensed information.
2. Technical Background
Conditions surrounding or proximate to articles of manufacture can be important for a number of reasons. One example of such an article of manufacture includes electrical and fiber optic-based equipment used for data transmission. It may be important that equipment operate according to desired performance guidelines. For example, if equipment is used to establish voice connections and transmit voice data, strict Quality of Service (QoS) requirements must be met. As an example, voice switching equipment may be required to meet a QoS rating of no more than two hours of failure for every forty years of use. However, conditions surrounding the equipment may negatively affect equipment performance. Examples of such conditions include temperature, pressure, and air flow. Other articles of manufacture may also have requirements relating to performance that can be affected by surrounding conditions.
In this regard, sensors may be employed in areas in and around the articles of manufacture to detect conditions that can affect performance. The sensed condition information may then be reported. For example, the sensed condition information may be environmental and/or physical information. The sensed condition information may be used to alert service personnel when remedial measures are required to either reduce the risk of equipment failure or when equipment has failed for repair dispatch. The condition information may also be used to automatically shut down equipment operation and re-route data transmission. Further, monitoring and reporting of security-based conditions may also be desired to detect potential disturbances of equipment that may negatively affect desired operation. The condition information detected by the sensors can also be reported to surveillance systems, including both on-site and remote systems.
Although a sensor may detect and report surrounding conditions, the location of the sensor may be unknown and thus the location of the sensed information is unknown. If the sensor is attached to an article of manufacture, the sensed condition information may also not be able to be associated with a particular location when reported. The article of manufacture may be portable or removable. Further, conditions that can affect performance may be localized to a particular component of equipment rather than to the equipment as a whole. For example, a malfunctioning circuit or wire in one component of the equipment may be detected as an increase in temperature. The malfunctioning circuit or wire may be localized to a particular fixed component of the equipment, such as a socket or adapter. Further, a removable component, such as a plug or connector, connected to the fixed component may have the malfunction as opposed to the fixed component. In either case, the sensor may detect and report data indicative of conditions in a general area in which the malfunction is located. However, the location of the sensed information may not be precisely mapped to the malfunctioning component.